The present invention relates to a desk-top type computer integrated or combined with a liquid crystal display (LCD), or an all-in-one computer, and more particularly, to a liquid cooling technology for a heat generating elements in such a desk-top type computer.
A conventional art concerning a cooling system for electronic equipment is such that a metal plate or heat pipe is interposed between heat generating elements and a metal cabinet wall in the electronic equipment to thereby interconnect them thermally, thus radiating the heat generated by the heat generating elements through the metal cabinet wall.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H07-142886 discloses a technology for liquid-cooling heat generating elements in electronic equipment. It describes such a construction that the heat generated by semiconductor heat generating elements in the electronic equipment is received by a heat receiving head, a cooling medium liquid in which head is in turn transported through a flexible tube to a heat radiating head provided on a metal cabinet of a display unit to thereby radiate the heat generated by the semiconductor heat generating elements through the heat radiating head via the cooling medium liquid from the metal cabinet effectively. The above-mentioned publication also discloses an example of using a heat pipe as a heat transporting device, which has a construction that the heat generated by the semiconductor devices is transferred through a heat receiving metal plate to the heat pipe and then thermally connected to the other end of the heat pipe directly attached to the wall surface of a metal cabinet, which serves as a heat radiating surface, to be radiated to the outside.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H11-154036 discloses a heat dissipation technology for a desk-top type computer having an LCD unit. This publication specifically describes that the air entered in a casing through an air inlet hole in a lower casing section thereof, which surrounds the LCD, a mother board, etc., is warmed by the heat from the mother board and a power source and then discharged to the outside through heat radiating holes formed in the top and back surfaces of an upper casing section and in the top surface of the lower casing section. The publication further describes that a cooling fan is provided at lower portion of the mother board to improve the cooling efficiency.
In a desk-top type computer that typically comprises a body section having an LCD and a stand portion for rotatably supporting the body section, heat is generated by a CPU or MPU, etc. (hereinafter generally referred to as CPU) built in the body section, and the heat thus generated sometimes makes the operations of circuits unstable. It may also cause to thermal deformation of mechanisms. In particular, with an increase in the operating frequency of the CPU in the recent years, the value of heat generated increases, and it has been desired to effectively radiate the thus increased heat.
In the conventional art, there were discussions on the cooling by means of a cooling medium liquid and that using a heat pipe for general electronic equipment. Concerning the cooling technologies for a desk-top type computer integrated with an LCD, however, only some air cooling technologies have been suggested as is in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H11-154036. There have been no technologies disclosed presently of a cooling construction that is suited for the desk-top type computer wit the built-in LCD.
It is conceivable to cope with an increase in the value of heat generated in the desk-top type computer by increasing the ventilation capacity of a fan. This measure, however, may give rise to a problem of noise due to the blowing sound of the fan and another problem of vibration during the operation of the computer. It is also conceivable to increase the heat radiation capacity by enlarging the size of an air cooling heat sink or heat radiating plate for radiating the heat generated by the heat generating elements such as a CPU. This countermeasure is contradictory to the requirement for downsizing or miniaturization of the desk-top computer.
It is an object of the invention to provide a cooling technology, which is useful to be applied a desk-top type computer with an LCD unit, and to propose a novel construction for obtaining an appropriate heat radiating effect that is impossible with the prior art.
A display unit integral type computer, or an all-in-one computer, comprises a chassis, a plane-shaped display attached to the chassis, a mother board attached to the chassis, a variety of electronic devices and a CPU mounted on the mother board, and a memory device electrically connected to the mother board. A heat receiving head is fixed to at least one heat generating portion including the CPU. A tube filled with a cooling medium liquid is connected to the heat receiving head, and the tube is secured onto the surface of the chassis, which is disposed opposite to the plane-shaped display with a clearance therefrom. The cooling medium liquid circulating through the tube serves as a heat transferring medium to radiate the heat generated at the heat generating portion through the tube on the chassis surface and the chassis itself.
Alternatively, the tube may be secured onto the back surface of the plane-shaped display, which is opposite to the chassis and attached thereto with the clearance therefrom. The cooling medium liquid circulating through the tube serves as a heat transferring medium, thus radiating the heat generated at the heat generating portion through the tube secured to the back surface of the plane-shaped display and the plane-shaped display itself.
Further alternatively, the tube may be led through the clearance between the back surface of the plane-shaped display and the surface of the chassis and secured onto the back surface of the plane-shaped display and onto the chassis surface. The cooling medium liquid circulating through the tube serves as a heat transferring medium, thus radiating the heat generated at the heat generating portion through the tube on the back surface of the plane-shaped display and the chassis surface, the chassis, and the plane-shaped display.